


Sacred Simplicity

by bbethyl



Category: Glee
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-08
Updated: 2015-03-08
Packaged: 2018-03-16 23:12:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3506273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bbethyl/pseuds/bbethyl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>child star reaction fic. too much cuteness.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sacred Simplicity

As the final bell rang throughout McKinley signalling the start of the weekend, Madison cheerfully made her way down the hall to her brother’s locker, where Mason stood, putting books away. 

“What’s the word, hummingbird? Are you driving us home?” 

Mason turned to face Madison, his expression perplexed. "Uh, no. Jane and I are going out for pizza, remember?"

"Ohhhh. Right."

“Cool. So... I'll see you tonight,” Mason said, unsure, after a moment of silence. He started to turn around to walk to meet Jane. 

"Wait!” Madison shouted, and Mason spun on his heel to look at his sister, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at what was sure to come. “Just a piece of advice. Do individual slices, not a whole pizza. I know you are a teenage boy and can probably consume the greater part of Ohio in one sitting, but you are dining with a lady and I don't want you to make a fool of yourself. Plus, the dairy in the cheese isn't good for your singing voice. So take it easy.”

“Madison.”

“Oh, and be the gentleman. Jane may be a tad bit strong willed, but that doesn't mean you can't open doors for her and pay the bill. If you are going to do this, do it right.”

“Hey, Madison.”

“And respect her! Remember, no means no, and silence is not consent. If you are going for a little something something, make sure you use protection. No balloon, no party." 

“Madison!” Mason shouted, finally shutting her up.

"Sorry. Just…” Madison paused and recollected herself. “Have fun, Mason. You deserve a nice night."

"Thank you,” Mason smiled, glad that Madison’s brief reign of terror was behind them. 

Mason liked to think that he had the afternoon all planned out. He was going to greet Jane after school, they would walk a few blocks to the nearest pizza place in Lima and have a nice, calm evening to get to know each other a little better. Very little margin for error, this option was definitely playing it safe, which Mason was certainly more than willing to do. 

But then he saw Jane and she looked really unbelievably cute, and Mason’s brain sort of short circuited, and all plans went out the window as Mason decided he needed to shake things up a bit. 

“Hey, Mason!” Jane greeted as Mason approached her in McKinley’s parking lot. “Ready to devour some pizza?” 

“Let’s take a walk,” Mason said quickly, not even putting much thought into it himself. Jane blinked.

“Huh?” 

“Pizza can wait,” Mason shrugged. “I thought we could be adventurous, for the day. Try something different.” 

“You are just full of surprises,” Jane said, with a growing smile. “I don’t know if I should be excited or scared.” 

“I think it might be safer to stay both,” Mason nodded. 

They dumped their backpacks in Mason’s car, but abandoned it in McKinley’s parking lot as they prepared to explore their hometown. They began walking on the sidewalk, exchanging small talk about Glee club (“I’ll be surprised if Myron survives the week.” “Five bucks says Kitty will be the one to kill him.” “Please, Rachel will beat her to it.”), Cheerios (Mason had a huge meet coming up and Jane insisted that she wouldn’t miss it for the world), and the weather (surprisingly warm for fall, thank God). They ended up making their way to Ottawa River, where they walked down and found a nice place to sit under a bridge. 

“You know, I’ve lived in Lima my whole life, and I never really realized how little of it I’ve seen,” Mason mused. 

“It’s really not a bad town.”

“It isn’t,” Mason agreed, speaking slowly. “But it’s not a forever town.” 

“I agree,” Jane nodded. “I’m going to LA, once I graduate. I’m going to try and get a record deal there.”

“And you’ll get one,” Mason said without missing a beat.

“Where do you see yourself in the future?” 

There was a long pause, and Jane was beginning to regret asking. Mason spoke eventually though, voice high and uncertain. 

“I don’t know. I feel like I’m supposed to have this concrete plan. That I should know where I’m headed, you know? But I’ve got nothing.” 

“That’s fine, you know. You don’t need to know yet. Most people don’t.” 

“I feel pressured into becoming a performer. I mean, I was practically raised on the stage.”

“But?” Jane asked, hearing words unsaid. 

“Sometimes I think about being a teacher. For like, elementary school kids.” 

There was no possible way Jane’s grin could’ve been any brighter. 

“Oh, Mason, you would make an incredible teacher.” 

“Tell that to my family,” Mason scoffed, standing up to continue to walk down the river. Mason leaned down and picked up a flat stone, tossing it in the water and watching it skip one, two, three times before sinking down. 

“How did you do that?” Jane asked.

“Do what?”

“Skip stones.”

“You don’t know how to skip stones?” he asked, looking at Jane incredulously. 

“No? Do most people?” 

Mason laughed. “Apparently not.” 

“Teach me?” Jane asked, walking up close to Mason with a gentle smile on her face. 

“Alright, well the key is picking a good rock. You need it flat and round,” Mason picked up a perfect stone and handed it to Jane, trying to ignore the warmth that spread through his body when he touched her hand. “Here.”

“And just hold it…” Mason took Jane’s hand in his, moving her fingers gently so that her index finger held the edge of the rock. Mason kept his eyes focused on Jane’s hands, but he could feel her gaze burning into his skin. His voice was barely a whisper at this point. “And stand facing the water sideways.”

Mason walked around to stand behind Jane. “Bend your elbow,” he reached forward and gently touched her elbow, guiding it to where it needed to be. He could’ve let go. But he left his hand there, pressing lightly against Jane’s skin. Mason’s other hand rested gently on Janes hip. “And just… flick.”

Jane threw the stone, and they both watched as it bounced once, twice, three times, four times on the surface of the water before disappearing from view. Jane cheered, spinning around and throwing her arms around Mason in victory. 

“See! You are an excellent teacher.”

Mason gave her a light smile, at a loss for real words. “Can you do it on your own?” 

Jane scoffed. “Of course I can.” 

Jane grabbed a rock (too thick), and tossed it into the water (too slow), and it plunked into the water, making a large splash that ended up hitting Mason. Jane gasped loudly and then quickly dissolved into a fit of giggles. Mock-offended, Mason reached down to the water and splashed a bit towards Jane. 

“Oh, no you didn’t...” she trailed, looking down at her skirt and tights, which were clearly wet. Mason let out a loud laugh and splashed her again, more forcefully this time. 

“Oh, I did.” 

“Revenge will be so sweet, Mason McCarthy,” Jane shouted. In a blur of movement, Jane had kicked off her shoes and ran into the river, stepping carefully on the rocks so that the water was about knee level. She thrashed her arms about wildly in Mason’s general direction, and before Mason even recognized what was happening, he was soaking wet from head to toe. 

Of course, of course, that turned into a full blown water battle. Within minutes, both Jane and Mason were almost waist deep in the water, splashing each other as if their lives depended on it.

By the time they had both had enough, there was not an inch of their bodies that wasn’t completely soaked. Still, neither of them could remember a time when they had so much fun. 

It wasn’t too far of a walk up to downtown Lima. Jane and Mason were absolutely dripping wet, so the walk might have seemed a lot longer, but for every weird look they got from random passersby, the pair would all but collapse in a fit of giggles. When they reached the center of town, Mason ducked into a clothing store and emerged with dry sweatpants, t-shirts, and hoodies bearing “Lima, Ohio” in big white lettering. Albeit looking like tourists (although who in their right mind would go to Lima as a tourist destination?), they were dry and comfortable. 

"Hungry?" Mason asked once they were settled.

"Famished." 

"Any ideas?"

“Well, you did mention something about teaching me how to eat my feelings?” 

“Are you suggesting that we go eat at Breadstix looking like we just rolled out of bed?” 

“That is exactly what I’m suggesting. Why, would you be embarrassed?” Jane teased, grinning.

Mason shook his head, although the blush in his cheeks revealed the real answer. “No, no, of course not.”

“Great,” Jane laughed. “Let’s go.” 

It turned out that the quickest way to Breadstix was actually walking back to McKinley and taking Mason’s car, which was a relief to Mason, because he wouldn’t have known what to do with the pile of wet clothes he had been carrying. 

There were a few weird looks in the restaurant. Their waitress looked personally offended by their attire, but this just fueled the fun of the outing even more for Jane and Mason.

Jane approached the endless breadsticks thing with a bit too much caution. Mason eventually struck a deal to motivate her, bringing out Jane’s competitive nature. The first one to quit or throw up had to pay for the meal. 

“The trick is to not think about what you’re actually doing. The second you think about calorie counts or sugar content, you get plunged into a deeper state of remorse, which defeats the whole process.”

“You sound like quite the expert.” 

“Oh, you have no idea,” Mason chuckled. 

Mason ended up paying for their food. 

After driving Jane home, Mason insisted that he walk Jane to her door. Like a full blown high school romance cliché, they said their goodbyes at the door. 

“I had a lot of fun tonight, Mason.” 

“Was Breadstix everything you hoped it would be?”

“All that and more. Not a single cockroach.” 

“I told you. Fumigated.” 

Jane laughed, and looked down, and then back up again through her eyelashes. Mason’s heard started to race. 

“Sowhatarewe?” Mason asked in one breath. 

“Sorry?”

“I mean. We both had a great time tonight, being totally spontaneous and fun, and it’s no secret that I’m totally into you. And I’d like to think that I’m sorta good at reading people, and I think you might feel the same way towards me? So I was just wondering what this is, what we’re doing?” 

Mason looked up and frowned slightly when he noticed that Jane was laughing. 

“Wait, why are you laughing?”

“It’s just… You ramble when you get nervous.” 

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’s cute. You’re cute. So I’d like to do this again sometime,” Jane took a short breath, and made sure she was looking at Mason in the eyes. Her expression was genuine, sincere, determined. “Soon. As boyfriend and girlfriend." 

"Really?" Mason asked, almost not believing what was happening. Jane grinned back at him and nodded. 

"Really."

And then, in a surge of inspired confidence, Mason lunged forward and kissed Jane forcefully. Jane reacted instantly, kissing back and wrapping her arms around Mason’s neck. Mason deepened the kiss, bringing a hand up to her neck to pull Jane closer, closer, even closer. 

And then, as if she was right out of the Princess Diaries, Jane felt her left foot pop. Had Mason not had a hand holding Jane steady by the waist, Jane might’ve collapsed out of pure joy. 

When they separated, breathless, they were both grinning so big that words didn’t even feel necessary. They were both on the same exact page. 

“See you later?” Mason asked, trying desperately to keep his cool, but failing miserably given the several octaves his voice raised. 

“Y-yeah, sure,” Jane replied, similarly flustered. “See you later.” 

Mason beamed and leaned in to give Jane a quick peck on the lips before he turned around to head back to his car, short and chaste, but enough to leave both of their lips burning with the memory for the rest of the night. 

Madison had nothing but smirks and suggestive comments to offer Mason once he came home carrying his dripping Cheerios uniform. 

“Oh, I’m sure you had _loads_ of fun swimming with Jane. As long as little Mason wore his bathing suit.”


End file.
